Akatsuki's Angel
by deideiblueeyez
Summary: Pein of the Akatsuki discovers a little baby in the Ame forest. This is the tale of that babe's journey through life with the Akatsuki never far behind her. A story where it follows the Naruto plotline. HIATUS UNTIL MOMMY SEND ME AN ANGEL IS DONE MAYBE
1. The Beginning of the Beginning

**I edited this first chapter, since the first first original one sucked ass cuz there wasn't any--good detail and stuff like that to me. It's so weird, I post something, and then, I look through it after a month and I discover all these mistakes with lack of detail and "where is this going?" and stuff like that. So here it is...**

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It was in the forest where Pein found the little baby.

The self-proclaimed leader of the Rain village, he had one day decided to take a walk in the nearby forest. As a god, he was in no danger to be alone in an environment such as this. Man or beast, he would kill it swiftly for disturbing him in his peaceful state.

Pein let the rain lightly sprinkle through the boughs of the trees that stretched across the grayish sky, letting in little light to the underbrush; yet everything was green and full of life.

A presence of strong, blazing chakra washed over him, putting Pein on the guard in an instant. He closed his eyes and focused on the source.

_Right…there!  
_  
The Rain village kage drew a kunai from his dark cloak, and backed himself to the nearest damp tree. Odd, why wasn't the intruder moving? If it knew he was here, shouldn't it be attacking, or at least changing its position?

And then he heard it:

A small, feeble whimpering cry for help from the mouth of a wounded, helpless human being. Well, he'd put it out of its misery soon enough.

Pein jumped out from where he was hiding, holding the kunai above his head in a threatening manner. But what he saw before him almost made him drop the weapon:

Lying down in the mud among the mossy tree roots was a baby girl. But not just any other baby girl, it was an angel.

A baby angel.

The poor thing was swaddled in a ratty cloth, crying its eyes out. On the pale forehead of the infant was a wound, half crusted over with blood. Pein stared silently as the red liquid dripped down the bridge of her tiny nose, past her squinted teary eyes, running down the sides of her chubby face. The small wisps of visible hair on her head were the color of snow.

As Pein watched, the angel slowly began to be soaked from the cold, sprinkling rain, making its cries much louder than before. Pein took his grey, ringed eyes off her for the moment and stared into the trees, which were surrounding them both on all sides.

"Hello?" he called out, "Is anyone here?"

Silence.

He spoke louder.

"This is the Amekage speaking. I command you to show yourselves, whoever you are."

More silence still.

Pein turned his attention on the infant once more, who had now began thrashing against the cloth surrounding her, desperate to escape the tiny prison.

He hesitated for a second, but then stooped low and reached down to touch the child. He drew back instantly as a slight burning sensation seeped into his fingertips the second he touched her pale cheek.

The baby girl stopped crying immediately, staring up at him with pink eyes. Wait, pink?

A double-check—just to make sure—confirmed that indeed, she had pink eyes, bordering on a sort of magenta hue to them.

Then she began crying again—or more accurately, screaming—as the rain began to pour down harder down on both of them. Pein closed his eyes and focused again, this time on the weather.

Slowly, the raining let up until it stopped altogether. The baby angel's crying stopped again, too, once it had realized it was no longer being rained upon. Sunlight streamed in through the thick branches, completely bathing the angel and god in its shaft of golden warmth.

Pein stared at the half hidden sky above. This must be a sign; he had to take the baby, that's why the two had met in the first place. It was fate for them to meet.

The Rain kage then scooped the little bundle into his arms, this time thankfully not receiving the burning feeling like before.

The angel began sniffling and moaning in distress, shutting her eyes in protest, but he quieted her down with a few gentle wipes of blood from her face with his long black cloak sleeve and soothing words intended to keep her calm.

"Such a sweet little girl," Pein murmured as he rocked her slowly, "such a sweet little angel."

She grabbed his index finger tightly in her tiny white fist. A few blinks, and her small red eyes opened again.

She stared into his grey, ringed eyes, and her other tiny hand reached out to touch his face; Pein leaned in slowly, meeting her halfway.

Every inch of his skin that touched hers felt instantly dry, as if he had been in the sun all this time, and not standing in the rain for over ten minutes.

Then the angel opened her tiny mouth and laughed. The quiet forest was filled with a delightfully musical sound, a sound not made by anything else on earth.

Pein's mind had come to a decision right then and there. She was coming with him: he had to know more about this child, and all of her abilities.

"Let us go, little angel." He whispered to the baby. The ninja began walking, child in his arms, mindful of the mud, wet stones, and hazardous roots. He slipped his finger out of the baby's grasp, and began thinking.

"Angel," he murmured, staring straight ahead, "yes, that's it. From now on your name shall be "Angel". What do you think of that?" He asked, glancing down at the girl.

Angel didn't answer, she was already fast asleep.


	2. Back At Home

The first thing Pein did when reaching his home village was find the Akatsuki headquarters. Not really hard, since it was the largest run-down factory in the poorest side of the city. It was off-limits to all citizens unless they have a pass present, and are checked out by one of the members before even making it across three of the cracked floor tiles.

The kage knocked on one of the shabby factory doors hastily, looking left and right of him to see if he had been followed along the way. No one in sight; that's one thing off his worry list.

After what seemed like forever, the door creaked open, and a short red-haired youth stepped forward from out of the darkness. His attire was a black cloak with red clouds, the same as Pein's. His expression was sullen, bored, unemotional, as he had made it to be.

It was a damp, wet gray afternoon, kinda cold too, but no visible breath escaped the man's lips, for he had eliminated the need to breathe a long time ago.

"Sasori," Pein sighed, "It's me." The youth's dark brown eyes didn't change their usual lazy expression.

"Yes, I can feel your chakra, Leader-sama, but you know, rules are rules. Let's see your pass." The auburn haired man's gray eyes widened slightly at the fact that his pass was in his pocket, but it would be nearly impossible to retrieve with the bundle in his arms.

"Uh, here, hold this." Pein gently thrust Angel into Sasori's unprepared hands, causing him to teeter slightly at the weight.

"What the hell? Is this a paper bomb or something, because I could turn your sorry carcass into a puppet in nine sec—" He stopped short at the sight of the designated pass waving in his vision.

Sasori bowed hastily, careful not to drop the unknown package he was holding.

"Forgive me, Leader-sama." He muttered, shifting the bundle in his arms. It moved, making Sasori grow more curious as to what he was holding right now.

"You are forgiven, now let's get her inside. Quickly."Sasori barely had time to ask the question "her?" before Pein had shoved him back inside, slamming the shoddy door behind the three.

Sasori noticed the bundle squirm in his wooden arms with more energy and emit tiny moans and whine at high pitches as he and Leader-sama walked across the dim deserted lobby of the factory. Everything from the check-in desk to the furniture was covered in dust and showed signs of need of repairing, but the organization ignored it. The real luxuries were deep within this unattractive place.

"Forgive me, Leader-sama," Sasori began, breaking the wall of silence the two had built as they were walking down the dark hallway, trying to avoid the broken plaster bits on the floor as much as possible, "but what is this thing?" Leader glanced behind his shoulder with his normally intimidating gray ringed eyes, but now they held signs of humanity and softness, something rarely witnessed by any of the others, let alone Sasori.

"An angel." He replied quietly. The redhead's then unsociable face put on a scoffing mask, but it was discreet. Angel? Feh, there were no such things as angels. Leader-sama must be stretching his ego out to other people now. But, there must be something extraordinary about this thing that would make the head of the Akatsuki want to keep it.

The two black cloaks paused at the end of the hall in front of an elevator with a large tattered sign marked 'OUT OF ORDER' in faded letters. Pein nodded to Sasori, and the redhead complied to make the handsigns as designated in order to pass.

After the last seal had been signed (with one hand only), a happy ding was sounded, signaling the acceptance of the correct password. The elevator opened with a soft groan, and both stepped onto it. The door closed itself, and the floor buttons blinked once, ready for the next password to be submitted.

Pein chose to do this next one: With a flourish of his cloak sleeve, he revealed his pass and held it up to the speaker. The speaker which really wasn't a speaker scanned it with a thin red laser before opening the first lock for the elevator. The kage's hand wavered over the blinking buttons for barely a second before punching the numbers for the final lock. 1-3-5-2-6.

The last lock was opened, and Pein couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Almost home.

The gentle vibration and quiet humming of the activated elevator invaded all senses both Akatsuki had, leaving little room for thinking. Sasori felt the bundle settle down as the vibrations shook their bodies, seeming to be pleased by the natural rocking and swaying.

At last, the elevator shuddered to a steady halt, and with a happier ding, the doors opened one last time. Both Akatsuki stepped out of it into a brighter and friendlier setting. The living area's couch was about eight feet in front of them, with coffee table and TV. In the northeast of them was a small kitchen with a high counter and barstools in front. And to the north was the hallway of sleeping quarters for each member.

For now, it seemed, the place was deserted of any members.

"Here you go Leader-sama." Sasori offered him the… whatever it was to Pein. He shook his head.

"Come with me." Sasori let out an impatient sigh. For crying out loud!

Pein knocked on one of the doors in the sleeping quarters decisively and without splashing emotion upon the wood as his knuckles rapped upon it. Both he and Sasori waited only a few seconds before it opened up to them. A woman slightly shorter than Pein himself stepped out to meet them.

"Sasori, Pein," She nodded to them as she said their names, "what is it that you need?"

"Help." replied Pein, allowing himself to intrude upon her room. Sasori followed suit.

"What do you have there?" she asked, noticing the bundle in the redhead's arms. Pein at this point relieved the bundle from Sasori. He tilted it in his arms and removed the cloth.

The woman gasped slightly at the sight of the baby girl in her lover's arms. Even Sasori, who, from his twenty years of life on earth was not easily surprised, raised an eyebrow. A baby?

"Konan," Pein said to the woman, "I found her in the forest. She's an abandoned angel sent to me from heaven. Do you think you can feed her?" Konan pushed a strand of evenly cut blue hair out of her eyes.

"I'll see what I can do." She took the baby from Pein, frowning at the wound on her forehead.

"Where did she get this?"

"It was there when I found her."

"I see." Konan turned to Sasori.

"Sasori, do you perchance have any sleeping serums?" Sasori, who was a master at poisons, nodded.

"I do."

"Any sterile needles I could use?" Another nod.

"Good, I may need your help, if you don't mind." Sasori, quickly becoming irritable of being asked to do so many favors all in one day, sucked it up. Konan was practically Leader-sama in a female body. Piss her off, and you immediately piss him off.

"I would love to."


	3. Akatsuki's Angel 3

Contains minor swearing i.e. bullshit, damnit etc.

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The baby, who was now christened 'Angel', stared up at the slightly fuzzy figures through week-old eyes. She didn't know what was going on, and she really wanted to find out.

The three Akatsuki stared down at the 'patient' lying on the operating table. In Sasori's hands he held a shot and a small jar of blue liquid, the sleeping serum. Konan looked at him and nodded.

Sasori stuck the needle through the thin covering on the jar. The serum sucked through the needle into the shot until it was a quarter full. The victim was an infant, therefore only a little would render it unconscious.

He injected the liquid into the baby's upper arm, earning some yips and squirming from the sting. But the infant's confusion was quickly subdued as its eyes quickly closed and began breathing steadily in its sleep.

"How long?" Konan asked Sasori.

He shrugged lazily.

"Thirty minutes, give or take."

"That's more than enough time," she replied. Konan took up a seat next to the baby. She threw a white puff at Sasori, who caught it easily in one hand.

"Cotton ball?" she offered. Sasori sighed, but nodded anyways. The two took up seats on either side of the head of the baby. Both dipped the cotton balls into rubbing alcohol and began to clean the large wound.

"Damnit," Sasori cursed, "how much blood left is there?" He surveyed the used white puffs before him, which were no longer white but red with the blood from the baby's gashes. Konan on the other side had just as many.

"I don't know," Konan said, sighing as she discarded another puff ball into her pile, "I think we should just wrap some gauze around her head and call it a day."

"Why didn't we think of that sooner?!"

"Calm yourself, Sasori. I know you hate wasting time, but I thank you for helping me."

"Tch." The irritated redhead pushed himself away from the operating table, jiggling it accidentally. Sasori suddenly realized what he had done. Even with his limited experience in the social interacting of people, he knew what happened when you wake a sleeping baby.

Pein, who had been leaning against the wall of the room silent still, arms folded, pushed away and stopped at the table of the baby. Sasori, Konan, and he watched in wonder, curiosity, and apprehension as the infant moaned and squinted her tiny eyes from the bright light shining in her face.

Konan leaned in closer to create a shadow over her so that the baby may open her sensitive eyes with out any pain. Instead, 'Angel' exploded into a fit of bawling, thrashing around as much as a scrunched up baby could. The two male Akatsuki quickly jerked back at the sound, even though both had grown accustomed to the sound over the years.

Konan quickly scooped up the little baby into her arms, supporting the head as she did so, and began rocking her gently.

"There, there, little Angel, don't cry." She cooed in a soothing voice. Repeating these words again and again, Angel calmed down in mere minutes. Konan rubbed the little child's back softly as she rested her fragile head against her shoulder.

"I hate babies." Sasori muttered.

"Well get used to it, because we're keeping her here." Pein announced.

"We are?" Konan and Sasori asked at the same time with question in their eyes. He regarded them both with the eyes of authority.

"Yes we are." he said to the redhead, "And don't give me that bullshit-"

"Pein! The baby."

"Sorry. Don't give me that BS that you hate babies. You were more than willing to babysit my child when Konan and I asked you."

"That's because if I said no, you'd probably pour kerosene over my puppets and set fire to them." He retorted.

"True." Pein muttered, "Anyway, this time I promise---wait, what the hell am I saying?! You take orders from me! I do not take suggestions or requests!" Sasori held up his wooden hands in front of him.

"Calm down, Leader-sama, I get it, okay?"

"Good."

A yawn from behind made the three Akatsuki turn around in surprise.

"What are you doing out of bed, Son?" Pein asked.


	4. Son

GASP!!!! PEIN HAS A SON?! YAY! **NOTE:** The name of the boy is _Gaelic; _means "**born of fire".**  
Okay, this is where I'm at a roadblock; I know completely where the story's gonna go, I just don't know what to write in between . I've been putting this off for at least a couple weeks on Quizilla, so I need to come up with something fast. ENJOY.

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A little boy, no older than three, stood in the doorway, rubbing a blue eye with his small fist. In his other fist he held his yellow blanket and favorite stuffed frog, Midori-chan.

His short spiky orange hair, resembling much like his father's, was matted down from extended contact with the pillow he had been previously resting his head against.

A single small black iron earring hung in his left ear. Pein had wasted no time in shooting the piercing gun into the lobe when his first and only son had entered the world after mere minutes.

"Mother, Father, what's going on?" the tiny boy asked his parents, yawning.

"Nothing. Just go back to bed, Son." Pein ordered softly. Sasori, who desperately wanted to find a way to escape the potential lecture Leader-sama still had in store for him, lifted the boy into his arms.

"I'll put Aidan back into bed." He offered.

Konan nodded.

"Yes, thank you, Sasori."

"Sasori-san," Aidan whispered in his puppet ear as he began his journey to the tot's room, "what was Mother holding?" Sasori rearranged the blanket draped over the boy before answering.

"I myself do not know what it truly is, but your father believes it to be a baby angel." Aidan's eyes grew big at the news, but quickly returned to their original sagginess.

"An angel? Like me?"

Sasori hesitated, unsure how to respond to his question.

"…Yes." Aidan smiled a tiny smile, and nuzzled the puppeteer's wooden neck.

"Does that mean I'm its big brother?" Sasori entered Aidan's room, not answering his question. His bed was low to the floor for easy access to the small boy, so he had to stoop down a little to lay him down.

Aidan smiled as his dreamy blue eyes drooped down to a full close the second his orange head hit the pillow once more. Sasori tucked Leader-sama's precious son, slipping the youth's stuffed toy in between the crook of his small arms.

"Sleep well, Aidan." The Akatsuki member muttered before silently walking out of his room and quietly closing the door.

Sasori closed his eyes and sighed, leaning his wooden body against the door slightly. Being a babysitter for that kid was one of the hardest things he had ever done. He did not like children at all, and having to deal with a kid nearly every single day while in this organization was just crazy!

Granted, Aidan was not a real pain in the ass, being the spawn of a 'god' and an 'angel'. Sasori just hadn't known himself to be very patient with people younger than him. Aidan was three and he was twenty. Seventeen age difference there, and his experiences and views of life were a hundred percent different than the younger boy's. Sasori couldn't recall happy memories from his childhood, so there was basically zero things to relate to with Aidan.

But he was a member of this organization, and this organization, Akatsuki, had a Leader who had a son awhile back, so he'd just have to deal with it all. Maybe he could learn some patience from socializing with the small youth…

_Nah._

"What's the matter, Sasori-san," a silky voice muttered next to him, "was Aidan giving you a hard time?"

Sasori opened his eyes to find Orochimaru, his partner in the Akatsuki, leaning against the wall next to him in a similar fashion as he was. His black cloak made his pale white skin stand out, as it did with everything he wore.

His long smooth black hair traipsed past his shoulders evenly, barely managing to reveal his dangling earrings. The man was about a head and a half taller than the puppeteer, but height didn't matter when it came to their powers.

"No no, just thinking."

"About what?"

"The boy." Orochimaru's large snake-like eyes closed themselves as he smiled one of his amused smiles, leaning farther back against the wall.

"You still hate children, Sasori-san? Even after you've gladly volunteered to babysit Aidan all those times."

"I don't hate children," the redhead muttered, "I just don't like people who younger than me. Kids don't know anything, and they're so difficult to deal with. I'm still in wonder how parents even have the time to raise kids."

"It's called 'patience'."

"Yeah, something I don't have." Orochimaru pushed away from the wall, holding himself up to his full height.

"Well you better get some, Sasori-san, what with that other baby---"

"How do you know that there's a baby in the Akatsuki?" Sasori squinted his eyes at the sight of his secretive partner laughing at him.

"I have my ways."

"Those dumb snakes of yours slithering around everywhere told you, am I right?" The redhead made an annoyed sound as he watched a small green snake head poke out of the wide collar of Orochimaru's cloak.

It circled around his pale neck, creating the illusion that he was wearing a scaly necklace.

The snake master rubbed its triangular head fondly with a long pale finger.

"You know I don't like being out of the loop."

"Yes, but I'm sure Leader-sama would've told you and the others later. Who's the one with no patience now?"

"Still, I don't like to wait for old news." Sasori turned his back to his partner, completely annoyed by Orochimaru's spying habits. Did he have his little spies all over this organization? Did he plant some in his room?

"No, I don't plant snakes in members' rooms," the snake master spoke up from behind, "I respect people's privacy, no matter how dull or entertaining it may be."

"Tch." Sasori walked down a few doors to his room, having his fill of annoyance from this organization's house of nitwits.

Orochimaru waited for his impatient partner's door to slam shut with its regular moodiness before carrying on to his original target:

The baby angel.


	5. 3 Angels and a God in Bed

**So sorry for not upddddddaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaatttiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnngg! (updating) . It's 32 pages long on my Open Office writer thingo (no more microsoft wordd D: ) .**

**ENJOY.**

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"So let me see if I get this," the tall, blue-skinned former Mist nin began, "you found this baby in the forest."

Pein nodded his head.

"Yes. That is correct."

"And you just decided—"

"Not decided, _knew_."

"Right, right, so you _knew_ it was an angel and brought it here."

"Uh-huh."

"And now we're going to keep this strange baby that we know nothing about with us. Here. In the Akatsuki. Which is housing a wide range of cold, ruthless, S-rank criminals..."

"Yes, what's not to get?"

Kisame scratched his gilled cheek. "I dunno."

The two Akatsuki then turned their sights to Orochimaru, who currently had Angel in his possession.

Angel stared at everything with curious pink eyes, her small, empty head making it so that she would not focus on anything for more than a few seconds. Trying to take in all the new sights, smells, sounds, and other things that her senses enlightened her with.

Figures in the room surrounding her.

A very tall person with blue skin, same as the sky Angel had stared up at so long she felt she could memorize the cloud patterns.

A person with very, very pale and cold skin with long slender arms holding her in a very comforting way. The hair was so long and silky, the little baby had the urge just to grasp it in her tiny hands and pull, just to see what would happen...

A lady with evenly cut dark blue hair and a pretty thing in her hair. There was thick black surrounding her with red clouds, but Angel suspected she had large ones hidden behind the cloth. But the lady seemed uninterested in her; instead she was interested in another, focusing all her attention on the last person in the room, hanging onto his every word, craving to breathe the same air he was...

Then she saw him.

There was no mistaking it. She would never forget him. That man. With the swirly eyes and thorny orange hair. He brought her here. He had saved her from that big scary place. He made the sprinklies stop.

The baby opened her mouth, but what came out was a combination of a gurgle, a laugh, and a purr.

The noise drew all of their attention immediately, most importantly the man's. She made the noise again, and began squirming, desperate for him to hold her again.

The man holding her at the time, whose skin was so pale and cold, said something and it brought the man forward, to her utter delight. She felt him lift her into his arms and rest her just below his chest.

Speaking of chests...

Pein felt Angel's tiny fists bump against his black cloak, along with small noises that only a baby could make when they're frustrated. It seemed like she was searching for something, wanting something.

Angel gave a cry and began twisting her head around, clearly giving up at looking for the unknown desire herself and showing off her displeasure at not finding it.

"She's probably hungry." Konan voiced her thoughts to Pein's left.

"Right, we should probably--"

Konan was out the door before Pein had a chance to finish his sentence.

There was a special connection between them, God and Angel. Pein could sense when Konan was in trouble, no matter how far apart they were. Konan was extra-sensitive to others' emotions, most importantly his and had that rare ability to calm him down when he was feeling oh-so-furious at all the imperfections in the world—though this did not happen often at all, it was still a nice ability to have.

This came with the love, free of charge.

When the "angel" returned with the bottle, Pein silently thanked Konan before he began the serious matter of feeding the baby.

It was completely silent in the medical room except for Angel's greedy sucking noises on the bottle coupled with heavy breathing.

Kisame too the chance to step forward to Leader. He loomed over Pein and Angel, being almost half a head taller than the God.

"Are you sure she will be strong enough for the Akatsuki?" he asked lowly.

"She has the potential," he replied, "I can sense it; she will be a vital asset to us in our quest to capture all nine bijuu and reach our goals...In due time, of course."

"What will we do with her in the mean time?" Konan had spoken this time.

"Raise her. Discover her abilities now, if possible, and hone them at the earliest convenience."

Angel had by now slammed down the formula in the bottle. She spit the rubber nipple out of her mouth, along with a little bit of her unswallowed meal.

Pein instinctively wiped away the dribbling white with a swift thumbstroke.

"Well," Kisame announced, straightening himself, "I think I should be heading off now. Kakuzu owes me five yen, and I intend to get it back before the day is out."

"Good luck," Orochimaru called after the Mist nin with a breathy laugh, "Kakuzu is the most tight-fisted miser I have ever known."

"Yes..."" Pein added absently, his attention still fixated on Angel.

The missing Mist-nin was now gone, and the remaining souls in the room were: One former Leaf ninja (not to mention one of the legendary Sannin); an angel; a god; and a newly adopted baby.

After a few moments of thinking in silence, Pein finally looked up from the infant.

"Konan, do we still have any of Aidan's baby clothes?"

"Yes I think so...Why?"

Pein gave her a serious look, but the smile clearly showed through his gray, hypnotic eyes.

"What size do you think Angel wears?"

* * *

"...There we go."

Konan thumbed the tabs of the diaper in their places over Angel's hips, ensuring their sticky sides will stay stuck against the diaper material. She then lifted the baby gently by the armpits and sat her right-side up in her lap and quickly slipped on a lime green baby shirt.

After laying her down again in an open onesie on the floor, Konan buttoned her up in dark blue cloth with blue stripes.*

After swaddling Angel in a very fuzzy baby blanket, Konan paused to take at a real look at her:

When she had first touched with this creature, she had drawn her hand back—...

_"Don't worry, Konan." Pein assured her when he saw his angel glare at the baby for burning her. "I think it means she likes you. She did it to me."..._

—Now, she felt no sharp burning sting. Angel was staring at the white paper flower pinned in her hair; her tiny thin arms had managed to escape the blanket-straitjacket (she _did_ have some practice, after all) and she was now waving them in the air without any rhythm in the motions, trying to reach it.

Konan did not give into the baby's wishes for her hand-made hair clip, but instead shoved the pacifier that had once belonged to Aidan in the toothless mouth in a slightly rough manner.

Then she held the cocooned infant in her arms, supporting the head, staring at the closed door where Pein would soon walk through and join her in bed.

As she held the baby, the "angel" began to think of the events that had taken place this very day.

_Why do we need to keep this baby? Does Pein really consider raising it here? In the Akatsuki? As a new daughter? What is wrong with Aidan? Isn't he enough?_

It was obvious to Konan from the beginning that Aidan was a pacifist. His father frowned upon his lack of aggression when sparring (which began as soon as the boy could walk and learn how to hold a weapon correctly).

Pein's dream was to end this flawed world with one last war. The war to end all wars. One that would eliminate all traces of hostility from the human population so that there would be no more suffering and pain: only peace.

She and he had experienced more than enough of their share, and it was Pein's idea that the only way others would ever understand was a first-hand account. Then they would all realize that his objectives had been righteous all along, and submit to him as their unquestioned God of the world.

And, he had confided to her, nothing would bring him greater joy than the day when he could stand on top of the highest point of the world, with her on his left side and Aidan on his right—two beloved angels, on supreme God—and look down on the people as his own.

Konan shared that dream. She wanted Pein to succeed with all her heart and soul. And, with the help of her, the Akatsuki, and the 9 bijuu they were all tasked to collect, it would be a reality, sooner or later.

But to Pein, Aidan was a problem. The boy, his only son, was supposed to be—how could she put this—Pein "reincarnated" inside Aidan. A clone, to be more specific.

To his disappointment, however, Aidan was not a boy who would resort to violence and show off his power. He may have his father's looks, but he had his mother's soul (not to mention her eyes).

He did not find hurting people easy at all. She could see him struggle to land a blow on his father, not wanting to cause any harm, but at the same time trying his best to do just that.

Konan hoped that this was a phase that would pass, or if it didn't, one that he would soon overcome and prevent from hindering the development of his ninja skills.

Pein was not a very emotional character. Cold; aloof; analytical. Those were a few accurate words to describe him.

But there was a soft side to him. A side only she knew existed, and, if he permitted, could access.

_A loving side, a compassionate side, a human side..._

It took a lot of coaxing to make Pein like that, but she only probed through his tough exterior when she felt he needed to be intimate.

He had actually joked with he that she held his heart in his hands because, "without you, I wouldn't be able to feel my heart at all." She really hoped that he was only joking, after all...

Konan's eyes suddenly snapped to the ceiling, where a small cloud was gathering above.

She stood, watching as the haze gathered. What was this thing? Where was it coming from?

She searched the room, finding nothing that could give away the original conjuring spot of this unknown thing.

But then the Rain Angel saw the faintest of white wisps of the cloud trailing down to what she was holding in her arms.

Konan looked down at Angel, who was busy sucking on the knuckles of her tiny fat fist and gripping her large slender hand with the other. She seemed to be concentrating on her hand, oblivious to all other things around her.

The cloud above flashed slightly whiter than before and Konan looked up again to find an amazing sight:

She was watching herself in the cloud.

Not in reality, but from some sort of memory of Angel's. She watched the whole scene after being burned by Angel, filmed from a third person's point-of-view, it seemed. It had happened earlier today, and the events of her being in the baby's presence were be replayed before her very eyes.

But it all quickly faded away and Konan found it was because Angel had stopped her gripping of Konan's hand; she attempted to bring the memory cloud back by slipping her index finger in her fist, but Angel didn't take the bait.

Konan sighed.

She'd discuss this with Pein tomorrow. Maybe he'd find the answers to this peculiar baby.

There was a knock at the door, making Konan glance up, but then resume her dressing for bed.

He quietly closed the door and stepped to his dresser, where he began his preparations for bed also.

Konan heard the tiny snaps of his cloak buttons come undone, and the clink of metal as he untied his Rain headband and set it on top of the wooden surface of the dresser.

She strolled past him into the bathroom, and both shared not a word as they both slipped on their bed things and took their turns washing up.

Meanwhile, Angel was lounging on one of the large, pouffy pillows on their bed, her pink eyes following the ever-moving ninjas with deep concentration, sucking on her fist all the while, making tiny peeps and giggling to herself.

"Pein." The pierced ninja looked up from the baby, craning his neck to stare at Konan with his gray, ringed eyes. They both laid on either side of Angel, watching her every move; Pein with fascination, Konan with boredom.

"Yes?"

Konan paused for only a second before answering.

"Are we really going to keep it?"

"You mean 'her'?"

"Never mind." she muttered.

"Konan, whatever is the matter with you?" His tone made her look down at her hands, which were wringing themselves without her realization.

She could sense his displeasure at her bitter attitude, and she felt bad. He didn't deserve it.

Pein, sensing his angel's mental distress, decided to tone down his scolding and transformed it into concern.

He leaned on his side and stretched his arm out, reaching to touch her arm. Angel set her sights on the long shadow that was hovering over her head, blocking the light from her face.

"Konan..What's wrong?" Konan blinked tears away.

Why was she crying? It was just a simple question. But when he asked, it was as if her were a stern father and she the misbehaving child who had been bottling up all of her bad feelings for the longest time before accidentally sassing back to the father without a second thought. And now that stern father had reprimanded her, and the tears threatened to spill. The father, seeing his little child close to crying uncontrollably, had opened his critical shell to let a little empathy show through, something rarely done.

"What is wrong, Konan?" Pein repeated, "I will listen. I always do."

Konan wiped her tears away with the palms of her hands. Pein reached over even farther and clasped one of her hands with his.

She could feel his strong grip holding her delicate hand and immediately felt comfort and forgiveness radiate into her skin.

The Rain angel shuddered a little, despite herself, at Pein's cold lips against her knuckles. His kiss sent tingling sensations throughout her entire body from her hand, engulfing her with a god's energy, pure and blameless and all-righteous.

She could tell him, he would understand.

"It's about—Angel." she murmured, flexing her index finger ever-so-slightly so the second joint grazed Pein's slightly open mouth. "And Aidan."

She stared through her bangs at Pein's face, hoping that his gaze would be nullified if not looking directly at him.

Pein glanced down at Angel, who was busy nodding off to sleep. "What about her?"

Konan took a breath before answering:

"Why should we keep her? You have let other children we found abandoned live in an orphanage. Why exactly makes her--" she gestured at the sleepy baby--"so special?

"And what of Aidan? You barely spend any fatherly time with him already. Are you so wrapped up with this organization that you don't have any time for us as a family? Has Aidan already failed you as a ninja? Have we failed you as angels of a god? Aidan, he—" Konan's voice began cracking slightly, "—Aidan, he really loves you, Pein. He wants to make you proud so badly that I'm afraid to see him get hurt. I would never forgive myself if that were to happen..."

A tear fell onto the blanket, darkening the black bedspread an even darker shade of ink with each droplet.

Pein had listened silently to his angel speak with undivided attention; his eyes never left her face.

When she had finished, he blinked slowly, thinking on what she had said. While thinking, the God lightly sucked on his angel's knuckles with his lips.

Konan now averted his gaze as he thought, wishing for Pein to hurry up and yell at her already.

The silence was thankfully broken not very long after she thought this.

"I am sorry, Konan." Konan, suddenly realizing that she had her eyes closed, opened them.

"Sorry?" she said incredulously. Pein gave her a look that he did not wish to repeat himself, but had to, for her sake.

"I'm sorry," he repeated slowly, "I never realized that my actions worried you so."

"I didn't mean—"

"Hush. I know exactly what you mean." Konan's hand was dropped, and Pein rested his on the bundle between them known as Angel.

"I apologize for my—"detached" treatment of Aidan. It was not my intention to push him to the point of your pain. But—"

Pein a chuckled a half-heart laugh "–it seems that I've almost succeeded in doing just that."

"Yes," Konan breathed, "he's only three, Pein. Please, refrain from the pain of training until he forms so kind of endurance to it. I don't want him to be scarred for life young, like we were."

Pein chuckled again, with more heart this time.

"We are not scarred, Konan' we are enlightened to true pain, with no blemishes or sin. Remember that."

Konan smiled

"I will." Pein's mouth twitched at the corners.

He sat up more, leaning less on his bent arm.

God and angel sensed each other's smoldering passion for one another, almost telepathically. And, in a way, it was.

"I love you..Nagato."

"I...love you...Konan."

They leaned in over Angel, who lay forgotten between the two. Fine by her: the baby was still sleeping, dreaming about her adventures.

Closer, closer, and closer the two lovers drifted until their breaths could be felt upon their faces.

Pein's hand found Konan's face, and he began to caress the smooth skin. He stared at the face, the beautiful face, looking her over with critical eyes.

This was done in a little less than a few seconds.

Humans were evil creatures; they were terribly flawed. They were greedy. They caused pain and suffering for pure sport and no remorse at all. He was above the sin that surrounded him, and so was Konan. She understood his point of view on the whole world and wanted to help the people as much as he did.

The current members of this organization—Akatsuki—Pein saw that they seemed to possess a little more of a grasp of how feeble and meaningless life was than others. With their abilities and knowledge of the world outside the Rain village, he would surely achieve his goal.

Konan could see Pein's thoughts flash behind his grey, ringed eyes.

"You _will_ achieve your goal." she whispered earnestly.

"_We_ will achieve our goal." he corrected.

And with that said, Pein kissed her.

Love is a fickle thing. It can change to hate in a heartbeat, into loathing in less than that. Some have never experienced love before, some have never known what it was like to know that someone out there cared about you well-being every second of the day, to be looked after with endearing eyes, to be held when there were sobs to stifle, when there were tears to wipe away and replace the crying with laughter.

All those years in childhood he had been alone, no one had shown him any sort of "love" described. No one reached out to him, no one at all.

Then he met Konan and Yahiko, and he will forever be grateful of the sacrifices they had made to keep each other safe and sound.

Pein's lips were practically lifeless except for the occasionally breaks for air when their mouths parted from each other for even the smallest of breath loss.

He held her by the upper arms—below the shoulder area—with a grip strong enough to leave bruises later, but he never did.

"I'm...sorry," he whispered in her ear, "I'm...not....skilled...in..the ways...of..love."

Konan knew that he feared nothing, for gods are master over everything on earth. But what Pein knew most little about was love.

Granted, she did not know much either, so it was up to them to learn together.

A few years ago, Pein made a breakthrough in the love department with Konan. She was so proud of him and remained ecstatic for at least nine months. The fruit of their labors was Aidan.

* * *

There was a soft knock on the door, clearing all the lovey-dovey thoughts from their heads.

Pein heaved a sigh and leaned away from Konan; he sat up on the edge of the bed, lifted himself up, and slowly walked over to the closed door.

He swiftly opened it to find no one there.

Pein leaned out and looked left and right down the halls; they were dark and had no trace of any living inhabitants stalking them at this late hour.

A small cough made him look down, and he saw that there _was_ a person requesting his assistance.

"Aidan," the ninja said gruffly, "what are you doing out of bed?"

Aidan stood in the shadow of his Father, which shielded him from the rays of the lamplight in his parents' room.

He wore a long, billowing shirt with a large fire pattern printed on it in black and red. In one hand Aidan held his favorite blanket, dragged across the wooden floor carelessly while his other was made into a small fist and was constantly rubbing against his closed blue eyes, shrouded slightly by his long orange red bangs.

The boy sniffled.

"I c-couldn't sl-sleep," he whispered, staring at his father's waist, "m-my e-eyes k-keeped h-hurting."

Pein's harsh stare softened very much; he knelt down in front of his only son.

"Stop rubbing your eyes or they'll hurt worse." he whispered. "Let me see them."

Aidan put in the last few harsh, knuckle-grinding rubs before slowly letting his hand fall from his face. He blinked his swollen eyes open and stared into his Father's calming, ringed ones.

He wished he had eyes just like his Father's. Then when he had a strong son, or beautiful daughter, he would be able to erase their minds of any trouble with one look into his eyes.

The boy felt Father caress his chubby cheeks with his hands as he held his face to scrutinize his stinging eyes.

Konan stared at Pein from their bed, wondering whatever the matter was. She could see more than one head at the door, one with hair slightly matted and shorter than Pein's, but the same color no less.

"Aidan..." she breathed mentally.

The angel could hear her lover murmuring words to their son, but they were too low in pitch for her to overhear.

Aidan's whites were almost completely inked red. It seemed like he had a subconjunctival hemorrhage.

"Do you see anything, Father?" Aidan spoke in a slightly meek voice.

Pein retreated his hands from Aidan's face and lifted himself out of his crouch.

"You have a hemorrhage in your eyes." the god said quietly.

"A sub-cun-junk-tee-val hem-o-rage?" Aidan repeated, trying the word out.

"Subconjunctival hemorrhage. It means your eyes are bleeding."

Aidan's face grew alarmed; his small hands immediately flew to his face, groping it as if to make sure it was still there.

"It's not bad, Aidan. All you need to do is wait and it'll go away on its own. Just try not to touch your eyes as much as possible." Aidan, whose hand was creeping up his cheek to restart his eye-rubbing, sheepishly dropped it.

"Yes, Father."

"Good-night, son." Pein began to close the door.

"No! Wait!" Pein kept it open a crack, peeking out to stare down at his son.

"Yes?"

Aidan squinted slightly from the light that flashed behind the man behind the door as it blinked in his eyes.

He clutched the blanket closer to his body, rubbing it comfortingly against his small chest.

"I was wondering..." he avoided his face, this time setting his sights on his frowning mouth, "...would it be alright if..."

Aidan bit his lip and forced himself to stare at Father's eyes, which seemed to scrutinizing him with slight suspicion, "Would it be alright if I slept with you and Mom, Father?"

Pein opened the door wider, but Aidan could still barely see his Father's figure behind the wooden rectangle.

It was silent while his Father seemed to ponder the answers of "yes" or "no".

Father did not particularly enjoy it when Aidan slept with him and Konan. The bed was big enough for two and a little extra in case the room was needed. Aidan didn't mind that fact, since he was usually a sound sleeper when he was needed to go to bed.

But this time...

Pein sighed and opened the door so that there was a large enough space for Aidan to slip in through.

"Come."

Aidan had trouble hiding his utter delight; he eagerly squeezed in through the crack, quickly tugging his blanket through so that it didn't get caught when the door closed.

"Aidan." He looked up to find his Mom sitting up in bed.

"Mom, I'm gonna be sleeping with you guys!" he exclaimed excitedly, taking a run n' leap into his mother's lap, shaking the bed.

"Shh, Aidan. You might wake up—"

"Nnhaa?" Konan glanced to her left, where Angel's roseate eyes had fluttered themselves open a second before.

She heard Pein groan softly at the slight inconvenience Aidan had caused them.

He sat beside Konan on the bed, taking Angel in his arms, trying to rock her back to sleep.

Aidan peeked over his mother's arms with wide—not to mention bloody—blue eyes at the little bundle he had only caught a glimpse of earlier that day.

He could finally see what it was with his own eyes.

It was a baby. A baby girl. A baby angel.

"Sasori-san was right..." the little boy thought.

He leaned in closer to the babe, studying it so he would never forget this moment of discovering a holy being.

Magenta eyes, more beautiful than any shade he had ever had in his crayon box; tuffs of hair the color of the snowflakes that fell in the city from time to time, when the air got chillier than usual; a bandage wrapped around her forehead.

The boy's brow furrowed slightly. Did she get hurt?

Not helping himself at all, he reached out to gently tap the baby's forehead protected by gauze.

"Nnhaa!" she cried when his finger poked her.

"Son, please do not do that." Pein said sternly. Aidan bowed his head slightly and smiled meekly.

"Yes, sorry Father."

The baby's fat little arms began flailing about blindly as the boy lifted his fingertip from her temple.

Suddenly, her fingers found his retreating digit, and grasped it firmly within her tiny fist.

Aidan's eyes suddenly grew wide, and he quickly jerked his hand back.

"Aah, she—she burned me!"

Pein cradled the girl more closely to his chest, as if he were afraid his son would break out into a rabid frenzy for harming him.

"Yes. She does that," he muttered, staring into Angel's face while she amused herself by gurgling happily, "I think it means she likes you..."

Aidan popped his slightly-burnt index finger out of his mouth.

"Really?"

"I'm sure of it." Aidan wrapped himself in his blanket and snuggled into the fabric happily with closed eyes, seeming to be elated that he was burned by the infant.

The curious boy scooted closer to Father, peeking again at the baby.

"What's her name?"

"Angel."

"Angel..." Of course her name would be "Angel"; it was so fitting, just like how others called Mom his Father's Angel.

"Does this mean that she's an angel, like me?"

Pein glanced up at Konan, who stared nonchalantly back.

"Go ahead." her eyes seemed to tell him. "Say yes."

"I believe so..."

Aidan giggled slightly, and leaned in even closer.

"And...does this mean that....I'm her big brother?"

Another glance upwards at his lover. Konan wasn't looking at him anymore, but at the wall near the door.

He shrugged mentally at this act of unconcern for Angel, Aidan, or him.

"....Yes."

Aidan's eyes seemed to glow bright, and he stifled a whoop.

* * *

"Goodnight Mom." Aidan whispered.

"Goodnight, Aidan."

"Goodnight, Father."

"Goodnight, my son."

In the bed lay Konan, Aidan, Angel, and Pein, in that order, left to right.

All except Pein were asleep, enjoying their dreams.

He looked on after them, his gaze shifting from one to the other to the last and back again.

The Rain god had only just met the one closest to him—Angel—but he felt as much compassion for her as he did for his lover, Konan, and his son, Aidan.

Three sleeping.

Three **angels** sleeping.

**His** three angels sleeping.

He would protect them, his angels, he would protect all of them. And in turn they would help him when he needed them most.

Konan...his divine lover, his devotee, his companion.... She would be at his side always...

Aidan...his son, his disciple, his beloved boy...He would help him..

And Angel...as magnificent and angelic as her name... She would be raised into their awaiting arms for righteousness.

Pein lay his head down on his pillow, staring at a sleeping Angel.

"Angel..." he thought, "Yes...my Angel..."

The omnipotent god finally closed his gray ringed eyes, and went to sleep.

* * *

**PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review! I really want to hear what you think!!**

**I'm really trying not to be like other whiny authors, but I'm going to transform into one if you don't review!!**

**Yes, Kisame's in the Aktasuki . .**

**If you subtract right, that would mean he's now 16. But no one but Masashi Kishimoto really _knows_ when and where everybody was in their lives, so this is not AU, per se, but FANFICTION ^^**

**AGAIN REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!**

**P.S. for more on subjunctival hemorrhage (not that gross; the pictures aren't even that bad) copy and paste this link into the bar:**

.org/wiki/Subconjunctival_hemorrhage


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